Purchasing a 914 in 2021, SHOCKING! Options

[914werke]

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So Like many here I've been buying & selling these cars for a long while.
Was a day when you could go out on a WE pick up a project car for under a 1K (usually under $500) Fix it break it or flip it.
Those days seem all but gone (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
After a while the cars start to find you, IE I get calls every week or so with the typical story: the caller has a car their relative left them, or a spouse has passed, they dont know anything about it, & they are not interested in it (ya right (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)), "are you interested in buying it?" ect ect.
Many times these are lazy and transparent attempts at value research, some times they are genuine.
Shortly ago I got one of these that was 10min from my place, So of course I went to look her over.
Having done so countless times I go into these with LOW expectation.
This time Im rewarded with a pretty decent car & engage in negotiations.
Long story short, this turns out to be one of those genuine stories & I even find the owner of the car posted here prior to his passing.
His widow & I agree on a price & this is where the fun starts..

The title is still in his, not his wife's name. Same last name mind you. WE go to a licensing office & even though she has her birth, his death & a marriage certificate ..in hand, they wont transfer title an insist the only way to sell it is to apply (PAY) for a new title in her name THEN transfer (PAY) the title to me. Ok ... no point in arguing stupid bureaucracy.
So step 1 & wait for new title to show.
In the mean time I pay her for the car & pick it up. Weeks pass & I get a call the title has come in, she mails it to me & I go in to finalize the transfer
I have all the necessary paperwork including a bill of sale listing a modest purchase price (side note: this is the MOST Ive ever paid for a 914!!)
I watch the agent as her fingers key the necessary detail into the states system, then she grabs a magazine (?) flips thu it finds what shes looking for types it into her system turns to me an advises me the $ amount needed to complete....
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Apparently WA State in addition to charging me sales tax on the purchase price wants to tax me a "use" tax based on its supposed current valuation~!?
The book she referenced was from PriceDigest & is supposedly the same guide the IRS & many other states use for the purpose of figuring out what you got & what its worth.

Be careful what you wish for, the somewhat recent increase in interest in our cars has now been realized by agencies interested in emptying our pockets. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)